thebes rules!

Theia is the best.

@acx-grants Thank you so much. This will go a long way in helping us bring this to the market.

Theia has always done some pretty incredible rep eng work. Excited to see what Theia does next! : )

Hey Laney, happy to see this idea has come so far! There was a lot of energy from the Ink in the Abbey and AI Fables events and contests that created some great stories, but I definitely wished for the infrastructure or connections to disseminate the works afterward. Hoping if this takes off it'll be a useful bridge for future such events!

I don't have enough of an art background to fully understand and evaluate this project proposal on a technical level, but I got good vibes from Laney while speaking with her, and think she has entrepeneurial spirit. In general the budget seems modest given what I know of what goes into a product like this.

We're still active but are closing our profile on Manifund.

You can follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and our website for updates.
You can also sign up to our newsletter.

Laney, it was a pleasure to see this idea take shape during the High Impact Professionals programme and to watch how you’ve continued turning your ideas and energy into action. I’m excited to see how it evolves and the impact it creates!

💜💜

🚀🚀

@joel_bkr Thank you! I would not have considered this as a possible option without you reaching out, and outside of personal funding, I'm also excited about this thesis more broadly. :-)

@Austin Appreciate your kind words. Thank you for confirming that!

Yes, platforms can die before they even get started due to how challenging it is (ie the cold start problem) to pull off. Rather than hearing it from me, I also secured testimonials from leaders in the industry about how this solves the serious pain point. I hope I've show a strong flicker of activated people so I can have the opportunity to prove the fire that is just under the surface here.

The infrastructure is where this can springboard into something powerful because I think I can unite the current fractured networks across different these creatives in the pursuit of impactful stories from people who are continually looking for ways to be creative.

@MarcusAbramovitch has this helped for you?

@LaneyKT Thanks for these clarifications! I can confirm that Manifund would be happy to invest on these terms on behalf of our donors, as we've done with other projects on the site.

FWIW, I shared Marcus's initial skepticism about the theory of change on this project -- by default, things like platforms or infrastructure are especially hard to pull off, and I'm not familiar enough with the professional video production landscape to say whether this platform would solve a serious pain point. But I've also been impressed with Laney's energy, thoroughness, and network, and getting $450k in conditional investment pledges is a nontrivial feat, and so I think Laney's project is worth serious consideration.

Laney, so inspiring to see this vision come to life. Laney is a visionary and well worth your investment. I'm eager to see this project take off!!.

@michaeltrazzi Okay, I see where the confusion comes from here. I'm looking for funding that can be rolled up into a SAFE. I've seen that done before on this project and this one. I'm looking to complete my round with people and partners in this space who understand the impact/mission-aligned part of this not only because I respect their work, but I think I can contribute to making impact, too.

Rather than assuming a blended capital model, where philanthropic donations flow as charitable funding or grants, it is instead that Manifund would hold the SAFE and any eventual equity and all proceeds from a future liquidity event would revert to Manifund's charitable pool.

This catalytic funding would allow me to hit the ground running on this project immediately and I wouldn't have to keep spending time on the fundraise itself. This applies for the $100K minimum, too, because I can then go to the funds who are ready to deploy, but can't activate until I have a terms sheet.

@LaneyKT I agree with @MarcusAbramovitch that the situation is a bit confusing. You're looking to raise $450k in donations (and investments) so that VCs who have soft-circled $550k would feel comfortable to invest?

Is the reason that they could get the same amount of equity with ~2x less money if you raise $450k of charitable dollars, so the investment would therefore be less risky?

Hi @MarcusAbramovitch! I'm building a platform for actors to perform scripts online + writers to hear their characters come to life (for profit, any story can be hosted). Then, want to use that infrastructure to run script competitions (non profit, only cause aligned stories can be hosted) where they can still hear the work performed, create clips of that work for social media distribution, and get people interested/involved because of the impact-aligned stories written specifically for the competition.

My intention was to portray this as an investment multiplier rather than a donation multiplier. The VCs are simply investing, but don't want to be the first mover. So, if I can find that initial check or investor to set the terms, they are happy to come in and fill 55% of the round. Not conditional, but soft-circled. They would join in on the $1M SAFE totaling $550K across the three funds. Happy to chat more if you have any follow ups.

I read through this, and I'm confused what you are actually building and what for-profit and non-profit you are hoping to build, but you have 4 people already in the comments that seem incredibly excited about this. What am I missing? My current understanding is that you are building a platform for people to read scripts.

I want to note a red flag I see regarding this $550k of follow-on funding and presenting it as some kind of donation multiplier. I think it's misleading to present it like this but more importantly why are they giving you conditional capital as opposed to simply investing? Something seems wrong here.

So inspired by this vision, Laney! Creativity and storytelling are such vital, underused tools that move people towards impact. Rooting for this project and all the stories it will help bring to life!

i'm so glad you're making / made this post happen, @Laney! rooting for you and the project's success!

in case others missed it, leaving Laney's kickass linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laneykraustaddeo/

Approving this project, and making a small donation myself -- I've seen Theia's work before and was excited to see this pop up on Manifund. Thanks @joel_bkr and Charles for making this happen!

thebes rules!

Theia is the best.

@acx-grants Thank you so much. This will go a long way in helping us bring this to the market.

Theia has always done some pretty incredible rep eng work. Excited to see what Theia does next! : )

Hey Laney, happy to see this idea has come so far! There was a lot of energy from the Ink in the Abbey and AI Fables events and contests that created some great stories, but I definitely wished for the infrastructure or connections to disseminate the works afterward. Hoping if this takes off it'll be a useful bridge for future such events!

I don't have enough of an art background to fully understand and evaluate this project proposal on a technical level, but I got good vibes from Laney while speaking with her, and think she has entrepeneurial spirit. In general the budget seems modest given what I know of what goes into a product like this.

We're still active but are closing our profile on Manifund.

You can follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and our website for updates.
You can also sign up to our newsletter.

Laney, it was a pleasure to see this idea take shape during the High Impact Professionals programme and to watch how you’ve continued turning your ideas and energy into action. I’m excited to see how it evolves and the impact it creates!

💜💜

🚀🚀

@joel_bkr Thank you! I would not have considered this as a possible option without you reaching out, and outside of personal funding, I'm also excited about this thesis more broadly. :-)

@Austin Appreciate your kind words. Thank you for confirming that!

Yes, platforms can die before they even get started due to how challenging it is (ie the cold start problem) to pull off. Rather than hearing it from me, I also secured testimonials from leaders in the industry about how this solves the serious pain point. I hope I've show a strong flicker of activated people so I can have the opportunity to prove the fire that is just under the surface here.

The infrastructure is where this can springboard into something powerful because I think I can unite the current fractured networks across different these creatives in the pursuit of impactful stories from people who are continually looking for ways to be creative.

@MarcusAbramovitch has this helped for you?

@LaneyKT Thanks for these clarifications! I can confirm that Manifund would be happy to invest on these terms on behalf of our donors, as we've done with other projects on the site.

FWIW, I shared Marcus's initial skepticism about the theory of change on this project -- by default, things like platforms or infrastructure are especially hard to pull off, and I'm not familiar enough with the professional video production landscape to say whether this platform would solve a serious pain point. But I've also been impressed with Laney's energy, thoroughness, and network, and getting $450k in conditional investment pledges is a nontrivial feat, and so I think Laney's project is worth serious consideration.

Laney, so inspiring to see this vision come to life. Laney is a visionary and well worth your investment. I'm eager to see this project take off!!.

@michaeltrazzi Okay, I see where the confusion comes from here. I'm looking for funding that can be rolled up into a SAFE. I've seen that done before on this project and this one. I'm looking to complete my round with people and partners in this space who understand the impact/mission-aligned part of this not only because I respect their work, but I think I can contribute to making impact, too.

Rather than assuming a blended capital model, where philanthropic donations flow as charitable funding or grants, it is instead that Manifund would hold the SAFE and any eventual equity and all proceeds from a future liquidity event would revert to Manifund's charitable pool.

This catalytic funding would allow me to hit the ground running on this project immediately and I wouldn't have to keep spending time on the fundraise itself. This applies for the $100K minimum, too, because I can then go to the funds who are ready to deploy, but can't activate until I have a terms sheet.

@LaneyKT I agree with @MarcusAbramovitch that the situation is a bit confusing. You're looking to raise $450k in donations (and investments) so that VCs who have soft-circled $550k would feel comfortable to invest?

Is the reason that they could get the same amount of equity with ~2x less money if you raise $450k of charitable dollars, so the investment would therefore be less risky?

Hi @MarcusAbramovitch! I'm building a platform for actors to perform scripts online + writers to hear their characters come to life (for profit, any story can be hosted). Then, want to use that infrastructure to run script competitions (non profit, only cause aligned stories can be hosted) where they can still hear the work performed, create clips of that work for social media distribution, and get people interested/involved because of the impact-aligned stories written specifically for the competition.

My intention was to portray this as an investment multiplier rather than a donation multiplier. The VCs are simply investing, but don't want to be the first mover. So, if I can find that initial check or investor to set the terms, they are happy to come in and fill 55% of the round. Not conditional, but soft-circled. They would join in on the $1M SAFE totaling $550K across the three funds. Happy to chat more if you have any follow ups.

I read through this, and I'm confused what you are actually building and what for-profit and non-profit you are hoping to build, but you have 4 people already in the comments that seem incredibly excited about this. What am I missing? My current understanding is that you are building a platform for people to read scripts.

I want to note a red flag I see regarding this $550k of follow-on funding and presenting it as some kind of donation multiplier. I think it's misleading to present it like this but more importantly why are they giving you conditional capital as opposed to simply investing? Something seems wrong here.

So inspired by this vision, Laney! Creativity and storytelling are such vital, underused tools that move people towards impact. Rooting for this project and all the stories it will help bring to life!

i'm so glad you're making / made this post happen, @Laney! rooting for you and the project's success!

in case others missed it, leaving Laney's kickass linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laneykraustaddeo/

Approving this project, and making a small donation myself -- I've seen Theia's work before and was excited to see this pop up on Manifund. Thanks @joel_bkr and Charles for making this happen!